Campers Race Boats with Anything that Floats

Kids build boats out of unconventional materials

As long as it floats, it gets the green light to compete in SoundWaters annual Anything that Floats Boat Race.

Today SoundWaters campers took their homemade rafts to the Long Island Sound, participating in teams for a fun relay.

The boats are made with materials found at Cove Island Park, from cardboard to wood to buoys and old dock foam. Each team must use these pieces to hold up two campers at a time.

Camp counselors say the kids learn a lot while spending several days crafting their vessels.

"It's all about repurposing garbage and showing kids that we can do things with garbage and learning about buoyancy is a big part of it," said Tim Abbott, SoundWaters educator, "and assembling boats. It's a blast for them. They really enjoy it. It's a new experience for a lot of them to build something with their own hands."

This is SoundWaters 8th year hosting the race. SoundWaters is the leading environmental education organization on Long Island Sound. Located in Stamford, it teaches over 25,000 students from pre-school through high school each year.